France
1946
– Catherine finally arrives in France and has a re-union with her brother.
She undertakes a brief job as a tour guide and then settles into a comfortable
Parisian life: cooking, listening to radio, enjoying the programs of beautiful
classical music, French songs, the news day and night. Her brother Fred married
the widowed sister of his solicitor and acquired an adopted son.
1946 - De Gaulle
resigns as provisional president, replaced by Socialist Félix Gouin.
1946-58 - Fourth
Republic: marked by economic reconstruction and the start of the process of
independence for many of France's colonies.
1947 World Events: Chuck Yeager Breaks the Sound Barrier;
Dead Sea Scrolls Discovered; Jewish Refugees Aboard the Exodus Turned
Back by British; Marshall Plan; Polaroid Cameras Invented.
1947 – Catherine
makes a short visit to Hungary to find out about her husband, their flat, their
property, the contents of their safe deposit box. Unfortunately Béla had a child to his mistress and had
remarried her former best friend. She returned to France only with the remains
of her stamp collection, which she used to start a stamp dealership. Catherine
establishes the Société Inter-philatelié, Paris. She manages a market stall at
the Carrée Marigny on the Champs Elysee and exported postage stamps to the
United States.
1946
– 1950 – Catherine attends the famous Sorbonne University in Paris and
obtains a Diploma in French Language. She and Fred plan to immigrate to
Australia via Italy. Due to boarding restrictions, Catherine departed on the SS
Napoli of the Flotta Lauro Shipping company, and Fred departed a week later on
the SS Roma of the same company. To occupy herself, Catherine taught English to
fellow Italian immigrants also on the SS Napoli. She arrived first in Perth, WA
then traveled on to Sydney where she disembarked with the utmost gratitude for
completion of her journey.
1948 World Events: Berlin Airlift; "Big Bang"
Theory Formulated; Gandhi Assassinated; Policy of Apartheid Begun; State of
Israel Founded.
1949 World Events: China Becomes Communist; First Non-Stop
Flight Around the World; NATO Established; Soviet Union Has Atomic Bomb.
1950 World Events: First Modern Credit Card Introduced; First
Organ Transplant; Korean War Begins.